Auto Dealer Recounts Extortion By The Mob

Ray Hara, a veteran Chicago area car dealer, remembers being terrified when two unidentified men came into his showroom in 1986 and threatened to kill his children if he didn`t pay $300,000.

Hara, owner of King Nissan in Niles, thought it was a fortuitous coincidence a few days later when hoodlum Lenny Patrick, a friend from decades earlier on the West Side, called him for the first time in years to see how he was doing.

Hara said he confided his problem to Patrick, a longtime mob gambling boss who was then in his early 70s, and Patrick offered to intervene.

In testimony Wednesday at Gus Alex`s racketeering and extortion trial, Hara said he never suspected Patrick was the mastermind behind his extortion. Alex, 76, a reputed longtime mob official, is on trial on charges he gave Patrick the go-ahead to extort Hara and other legitimate businessmen in the 1980s.

Hara testified that Patrick led him to believe he acted as a mediator and persuaded the extortionists to accept half of their original demand.

Hara said he raised the $150,000 by borrowing $35,000 from relatives, selling stock for $65,000 and collecting on a $50,000 debt owed him by another dealership.

Patrick personally picked up the paper bag that Hara had filled with cash, put it under his arm and told Hara the extortionists would never bother him again, Hara said. ``I thanked him,`` Hara told Assistant U.S. Atty. Chris Gair.

Sam Adam, Alex`s lawyer, hammered away at the fact that Patrick, who had employed Hara at his restaurant as a waiter 50 years ago, had repeatedly lied to Hara but been able to convince him otherwise.

Adam contends Patrick has pulled off another con, convincing his ``street crew`` that Alex was his boss so he could pocket a bigger share of the extortion proceeds.

The defense has denied Alex has mob connections, admitting only that he was a longtime gambler.

But an FBI agent testified Wednesday that six years ago he photographed Alex meeting with Sam Carlisi, reputedly then mob boss in Chicago, in a parking lot of a McDonald`s at Oakbrook Center.

Agent James G. Brown, on a surveillance in August 1986, said he saw Alex remove two shopping bags from his Mercedes and struggle as he carried them over to Carlisi, leading Brown to think there was something heavy in the bags. Both men peered into the bags before Alex put one or both bags into Carlisi`s car, Brown said.

The defense has argued Patrick really reported to Carlisi, not Alex. Brown`s testimony suggested they all knew one another.

In other testimony Wednesday, two elderly men, Max Zimmerman and Dr. Joseph H. Brown, admitted innocently acting as go-betweens for Alex and Patrick. Previous testimony indicated the two didn`t talk directly on the phone together in case of FBI eavesdropping.

Brown, 79, who described himself as ``a reputable and ethical doctor,``

said he frequently dined with Alex in two popular restaurants in recent years and had been Patrick`s physician for years.

Brown said Patrick asked him to deliver messages to Alex several times, including one request for money for legal and other bills. Alex also once gave him a package to give to Patrick, Brown said.

Zimmerman, 82, longtime owner of Zimmerman`s Liquor Store, said Alex, a customer for 10 years, asked him to take phone messages from Patrick on two occasions in 1990. `` `Tell Mr. Gus to meet me,` `` Zimmerman said Patrick told him both times, without specifying a place or time.

Patrick testified he shared extortion profits with Alex at regular meetings, usually in a sixth-floor hallway at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the book department in Marshall Field`s flagship store.